Formation and optical properties of CdTe∕ZnTe nanostructures with different CdTe thicknesses grown on Si (100) substrates

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements were carried out to investigate the formation and the optical properties of CdTe∕ZnTe nanostructures with various CdTe thicknesses grown on Si (100) substrates by using molecular beam epitaxy and atomic layer epitaxy. AFM images showed that uniform CdTe∕ZnTe quantum dots with a CdTe layer thickness of 2.5 ML (monolayer) were formed on Si (100) substrates. The excitonic peaks corresponding to transitions from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole band in the CdTe∕ZnTe nanostructures shifted to a lower energy with increasing thickness of the CdTe layer. The activation energies of the carriers confined in the CdTe∕ZnTe nanostructures grown on Si (100) substrates were obtained from the temperature-dependent PL spectra. The present observations can help improve understanding of the formation and the optical properties in CdTe∕ZnTe nanostructures with different CdTe thicknesses grown on Si (100) substrates.